Susette Holten, f. Skovgaard, followed in the footsteps of her father, the landscape painter P. C. Skovgaard (1817–1875) the mother crafter Georgia Skovgaard (1828–1868) and her two older brothers Joakim and Niels Skovgaard (1856–1933; 1858–1938) and became a painter. In the family home she was taught by her father, but when he died, when she was just 12 years old, she recieved private lessons from the painters Carl Thomsen (1847–1912), Laurits Tuxen (1853–1927) and Frans Schwartz (1850–1917) but was otherwise trained by her family. Artistically she still managed to find her own path, which is clearly seen in her works with ceramics. In her visual arts practice she most often painted landscapes, but also figure paintings, portraits and flower paintings, the last-mentioned as presented on this auction. She formed close friendships with the painters Elise Konstantin-Hansen (1858–1946), Sofie Holten (1858–1930), Edma Frølich Stage (1859–1958) and Johanne Krebs (1848–1924).

In 1885 she was represented at Charlottenborgs Spring Exhibition with a portrait, and in 1891 she was co-founder of Den Frie Udstilling. The foundation was initiated by the painter Johan Rohde (1856–1935) together with J. F. Willumsen (1863–1958), Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916), Agnes and Harald Slott-Møller (1862–1937; 1864–1937) among others, as a break with Charlottenborg's laong standing monopoly and censored exhibitions. She was represented on Den Frie Udstilling until her death.